


Welcome to the room of people

by seasonschange



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Established Relationship, Fix-It of Sorts, M/M, Pre-sequel spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-25 14:46:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9825128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasonschange/pseuds/seasonschange
Summary: “Hundreds of lives are on the line here, kiddos,” Jack explains, careful to keep the burning resentment out of his voice. He forces himself to face the glass panel, and look at the group of scientists crowding the airlock. “I just can't take the risk. And for what it's worth, I am really sorry.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> The game along with an adorable preseq art (they were smooching!) inspired me to write this lil thing.
> 
> P.S.: author dislikes Lilith with A Passion(TM).

* * *

The words _'another mole'_ filtering through his ECHO communicator in Gladstone's squeaky voice feel like the equivalent of an uppercut.

Momentarily stunned, Jack takes a full minute — way longer than usual — to assimilate that new information. Then with no warning whatsoever for his interlocutor, he switches channels. There'll be time for proper calling etiquette once Helios _isn't_ being invaded.

He deftly selects the private channel that's only broadcast to the loader bots and a couple of engineers — Jack included — and clears his throat while his device is connecting.

"This is a message for aaaaaaaaall of you useless bots," he announces, annoyance and frustration creeping in his tone when he's forced to address Hyperion's dumbest population directly. "So listen carefully: drop _whatever the hell_ you're doing and bring every R&D employee who's still got a pulse to the launching station. And remember that the faster you get on with it, the least likely I'll be to test some more of my auto-destruction codes on you. Jack out."

Hopefully, the leak should be constrained to the science division, since they're the only ones familiar with the inner workings of the moonshots system that are presently being hijacked.

* * *

 

“Hundreds of lives are on the line here, kiddos,” Jack explains, careful to keep the burning resentment out of his voice. He forces himself to face the glass panel, and look at the group of scientists crowding the airlock. “I just can't take the risk. And for what it's worth, I _am_ really sorry.”

“ _Oh my God...”_

“ _You can't do this!”_

The voices of the scientists are rising on the other side of the bulletproof glass, angry and scared.

Lost.

But there really _isn't_ anything else to be done. As much as Jack hates how similar this group execution comes to the Lost Legion's methods — it's the only way. There's no time to conduct a proper investigation to find the few responsible for jamming the station's defense systems from the inside.

The defenses leading to the lasers need to be shut down _right now;_ before they’re all too dead to do anything about it.

Behind him, voices almost drowned by the scientists’ screams and Gladstone’s vehement plea for mercy, Roland and Lilith seem in the middle of a private argument.

If they’re about to question his methods, Jack doesn’t feel an ounce of hesitation at the prospect of getting rid of the pair just the same. He doesn’t feel threatened by them in the least but if Helios is to be saved (and, he guesses, the people down on Elpis, too), it will only happen if they follow Jack’s lead without questioning him.

They don’t have the luxury of holding a democratic debate, and the more time they’re wasting, the more people are dying.

And the closer Zarpedon and her army are getting to the Vault.

Jack’s gloved hand hovers above the button that’ll activate the ventilation cycle of the airlock, and effectively get everyone down there sucked into space.

 _At least it’s gonna be a quick death_ , he reminds himself. _They should be thanking me I ain’t torturing the truth outta them instead._

Ready to follow through on his plan, Jack’s hand suddenly freezes when he spots a very familiar silhouette in the middle of the crowd temporarily inhabiting the airlock conduit.

Big mismatched eyes lift to him, and even through the thick glass panel separating Jack from the people he has sentenced to death a mere hour ago — he can read the misery and resignation darkening the man’s expression.

_Why…_

Why didn’t Rhys — his goddamn _lover_ for crying out loud — utter a single word of protest after being brought down there. If Jack hadn’t bothered inspecting the room one last time, he’d have  _killed_ him with the rest of the R &D idiots.

All Rhys had to do was yell loud enough for Jack to notice, and he should know that Jack would have moved heaven and earth to recover what was his.

Right?

_He’s silent because he thinks I’m going to sacrifice him just like the others._

Jack frowns as that thought occurs to him.

At the beginning of their affair, he’d forbade Rhys of ever telling anyone about their involvement. It was not only to protect Rhys from anyone coveting Jack’s position as the manager of Helios Station, and who could decide that threatening the data engineer would provide a good lever into blackmailing Jack himself.

The secrecy had been mostly to protect Jack _himself_. Mainly, to allow him enough room to slowly but surely take over Hyperion without worrying about his lover getting hurt in the process.

If nobody knew about Rhys… and their agreement had worked just fine until the day the little shit got himself into this situation and decided their deal mattered more than _his freaking life_.

As if with Helios falling apart, and what might be his last chance at uncovering the secrets of the Eridians’ powers — as if Jack would still care being seen playing favorites with an employee.

As if Rhys could die and Jack would simply go on with his life like the guy had never mattered. As if Jack’s supposed to carry on without Rhys’ unwavering support that’s kept him on track — kept him _sane_ — for so long he’s unable to picture a life _without_ it anymore.

“God, you’re… such an asshole!” Jack hears himself spit out loud, hand curling into a fist before pounding the glass.

The vault hunters behind him gasp inadvertently. And downstairs, he can see Rhys shudder and avert his gaze as the crowd around him falls silent, possibly confused by Jack’s outburst.

 _And what the hell is Rhys doing down there, anyway,_ Jack’s heart is racing as he tries to make sense of the situation. _He’s never been part of the R &D team, which means… _

“Freakin’ loader bots!” He thunders and turns around lightning fast, grabbing the gun at his belt and shooting one of the loader bots directly in the eye.

He keeps firing his shotgun laser over and over like a man possessed, advancing on it with a mad glint in his eyes — he shoots it until the machine's distorted complaints have dialed down to an unintelligible gurgle.

Then for good measure, he kicks the pile of melted remnants.

"Now," Jack whistles through clenched teeth as he turns to the row of machines lining the far wall, dispassionately awaiting further instructions. "Get me that data engineer. OUT. OF. THERE!"

* * *

 

In the end, after the bots prove to be too incompetent to find the person Jack was talking about, every single scientist is ushered out of the airlock.

Most of them are wearing a relieved expression on their faces, even after being escorted straight to the underbelly of the station, to the confinement area reserved for uncooperative workers, and traitors.

One mistake made by a moronic piece of machinery means they all get to live another few hours, until Jack has come up with a solution to his mole problem.

As the scientists stumble out the room under the scrutiny of the small legion of armed bots, Jack’s eyes track Rhys’ progress like his own life depends on Rhys making it out of there as fast as possible.

Once the airlock has been cleared out, Jack turns around, feigning nonchalance as he makes a vague gesture in the direction of his team of hired guns.

“You stay here. I just gotta, uhh… interrogate these idiots. Or whatever. Just… friggin’ stay here and wait for my return.”

Athena nods. Nisha gives him a two-fingers salute.

“Roland,” Lilith whispers as Jack reaches the doorway to his office, sounding visibly agitated. “He was going to murder all those people.”

“Quiet.”

“But, Roland _—_ ”

“I said _quiet!_ ”

From the corner of his eye, Jack notices the way the siren’s eyes go round when her partner raises his voice at her.

“I don’t have time for your mind games. I’m done listening to whatever bullshit theories you keep feeding me. You saw just as I did that Jack _didn’t_ kill those people. He spared them. Between the chick who gets a kick out of antagonizing every single person we’ve ever met, and the only guy who seems to know what the hell is going on and willing _to do_ something about it — who do you think I’m gonna choose, Lil?”

Lilith opens her mouth to argue, but Roland is faster.

“ _No!_ This time I talk, and _you_ _goddamn listen!”_

“Uh oh,” Nisha snorts, perched on Jack’s desk. “There’s trouble in bandit paradise.”

Jack’s long gone by then.

* * *

 

The scientists have each been locked inside individual cells, and it takes an irritatingly long time for Jack to locate Rhys' own.

Once one of the guards has dialed the code to remove the force-field blocking the entry of the cell, Jack dismisses them with a brisk _“Get lost. Now.”_ accompanied by a withering glare.

Peering inside the cell, he finds Rhys sitting on a piece of furniture that barely fits the definition of a bed. And his eyes immediately focus on the bleeding scratch on Rhys’ cheek.

Jack almost calls back the guard so he can beat the crap out of him.

“How,” he begins, stressing every syllable, “the,” he walks into the cell and looms over Rhys, “ _hell_ —”

Rhys takes a sharp breath before cutting him off, the fingers of his metal arm clutching the fabric of his left sleeve, making him appear like he’s hugging himself. “—A loader grabbed me. I’m sorry. I just wanted to help, so I went up to R&D and… I couldn’t do anything, Jack.”

“And you were so sure I was going to let you die, huh? Don’t even try lying to me, asshole, I saw it! It was all over your stupid face.”

Rhys doesn’t argue, his mouth twisting into a dejected pout.

“Yeah, I did. And you know what’s funny?” Rhys’ voice breaks at the end of that sentence, but he keeps going, determined to get the words out. “All I could think about was, ‘I won’t be there to see him succeed. What a disappointing end.’ And that was it… I never expected you to save me,” he finishes in a whisper.

Jack sighs. The utterly exasperated, _I’m-this-close-to-reaching-my-breaking-point_ kind of sigh.

“Actually, you were right to doubt me, cupcake. I can’t keep you safe, do you understand that? I wish I could, but I can’t. I got bigger problems. Responsibilities. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care. I want you to stay alive as long as possible, you get that? So you — _you_ gotta look out for yourself.”

“I know,” Rhys answers, eyebrows set in a stubborn frown.

“Then how 'bout you start _acting_  like it! Next time you get mixed up with some random jerkoff, come out with it! Spit it in their faces! Tell them you’re Jack’s trusted advisor, or secretary, or—or—you know what, pumpkin, when I’m back, I’m promoting you to personal assistant. See how they treat you _then_.”

Rhys startles when Jack crouches in front of him, but quickly relaxes again when all Jack does is swipe his thumb over Rhys’ cheek, narrowly avoiding the cut.

Rhys leans into the touch, and Jack’s breath catches in his throat like it always does whenever it hits him that this gorgeous man belongs to him, and he didn't even have to buy him in the first place. This stupid, reckless, self-centered man who he almost lost today.

“I gotta leave soon."

Jack keeps forcing the brightness and determination into his tone even though his heart isn't in it right now; he can't allow himself to get all mellow right before a trip to Pandora.

“Mhmm,” Rhys agrees, eyes falling shut. "I gathered as much from your 'Big Boss' voice."

Jack looks deep inside himself for the ability to let out a chuckle of genuine amusement.

It's always more rewarding when there's nothing forced or put-on between them, even when it’s hard to be this authentic and vulnerable.

“Try not to get killed while I’m gone, yeah?”

The words come out tinged with genuine trepidation. And he can’t care less.

Without opening his eyes, Rhys reaches for the lapel of Jack’s coat and tugs him forward until their lips collide.

“You too, Jack,” Rhys mumbles against Jack’s lips, always this strange mix of hopeful and resigned whenever he has to watch Jack leave. “Please, you too.”

* * *

 


End file.
